A New Dawn: Jaara's Saga

Summary: 4 years after the destruction of the Death Star, Luke has gone off in search of others who show the potential of becoming Jedi to train them. He finds it in Jaara and Boro, but the dark side lurks....

Chapter 1

It
was the drumming that woke her.

From
the depths of hazy dreams Jaara awoke to the frantic pounding of
drums and cries of her people. Rubbing her eyes she sat up, shivering
as the cold air hit her hot skin. The scent of smoke and sweat was
all around her, and she shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts.
Why was her body so slow? Why did it feel as if one hundred blankets
weighed her down?

“Jaara, you have been spared.”

She
knew that scratchy voice. It was Teema, the healer who killed more
than she saved. With bleary eyes Jaara glanced around the hut. It was
dark and smelled like earth. It was the hut that had recently been
built for those who had contracted the Silvery Death....

“I...I'm
sick?”

“You were. It seems the gods have spared you this
time. Your fever is broken.” Even in the dark Teema's large golden
eyes gleamed. Studying her. Hating her.

“My
parents...”

“Are dead. Do you hear those drums?”

How
could she not? Every time the drums beat she could feel it shake her
bones. Jaara remained silent. She didn't think Teema needed a reply.
The old woman grunted, her frail arms crossing across her chest.

“They
beat because your parents have passed on only hours ago. Now you will
rule us. You must feel very blessed.”

Jaara wished she
could cry. She wished she could run. She wished she could die and
join her parents. How could she be the only one left? How could she
run this village? She was only 17 moons old. Teema suddenly smiled,
and her dry laugh filled the hut.

“You'll run us into the
ground and I shall be able to finally tell people I was right all
along. It is sad your parents died. They were good rulers. They knew
the ways and traditions. You will only bring disappointment and ruin
to us.”

On
thin bowed legs—one shorter than the other—Teema stood, stooping
so she didn't hit her head on the earthen roof.

“I will
let the people know you have lived. And give you privacy with your
family.”

Her family? Teem pulled back a ratted curtain and
the firelight's glow illuminated two motionless forms wrapped in
furs. Her family. Tears trailed down Jaara's cheeks and she laid her
heavy body back on the ground, too tired, too dizzy to fight back. To
look away. She wanted to die with them. And then...a warmth.
Something warm was filling her from the inside out. She knew this
feeling. It was the energy she felt when she was running the
footpaths of the jungle, trusting
it to find the way to the best fruit. The energy that moved in her
when she danced and became one with music and motion.

Her tears eased, and her fear.
If she allowed this energy to flow through her, she would be well.
Everyone would be well. She stared at her covered parents. Their
energy was gone. But she was sure she could feel their love around
her. She would lead her people. She had to.

There were not any people to
lead. By the time the Silvery Sickness was finished, only she and
three others lived. Boro, her friend since childhood, Nivem, an
elderly man who had lived through the sickness twice, and a young man
who had run away into the wilds a week earlier. Teema was the last to
contract it.

“Why do the horrible ones always stay alive
the longest?” Grunted Boro as she angrily slapped the last blue
stone on Teema's grave. No one had wanted to bury Teema, but it
wouldn't have be
right not to. Nivem sighed, resting his long knobby fingers on the
pile of stones.

“Those who are the angriest
have the most to live for. They cling to it—and it clings to them.
Anger is a great strength.”

“Love isn't the answer to
everything Jaara.” Boro sighed. “What do we do now, O ruler?”

It was a good question with no answer. Not a good one
anyway. As far as she knew the surrounding villages had also been
nearly as decimated as their own. There was not much to be done.
Their village was gone. After the rain months nature would claim what
they had taken and all that would be left would be bumps of
choke-vines where the huts had once stood. It was too dangerous to
stay alone. Three people were not enough to defend themselves against
the creatures much bigger than they were.

“We should go to
the capitol.”

Nivem suggested this hesitantly. Both Boro
and Jaara wrinkled their noses at the idea. The capitol was crowded
and flooded with scents that would assault their sensitive noses.
City people had adapted and their keen noses dulled. Boro began to
argue with Nivem—she did love to argue—and Jaara slipped away to
think.

She walked amongst the empty
huts and fire pits. All around were the piles of blue rocks to mark
as graves, to remind her of all she had lost. The jungle that was
once her playground surrounding
the village suddenly
looked scary and foreign to her. It was going to take away all
physical proof
of her home and the lives that lived in it. Perhaps they could keep
it up. Perhaps they could band together with the remaining villagers
in other places and start a new one. Perhaps....Jaara's feet stopped
at the edge of the jungle, her toes just touching the rich black
earth that marked the beginning of the wilds.

Closing her
large golden eyes she took a deep breath. The scent of forest, rain,
and even the smell of decay from the other
villages entered her
senses. She let go of her control, let the energy flow through her.
Perhaps if she concentrated it would point her in the direction they
were meant to go. She frowned, pushing past the scent of death and
took another sniff. There was an odd scent. One she had never smelled
before. She couldn't even begin to place what it might be. But the
energy in her was suddenly flowing forth towards the scent and
Jaara's hearts began to quicken, her hands began to sweat. She was
seeing and not seeing at the same time. She was connected to the
energy, and the scent. And it was connecting to....something. To
someone.

Suddenly she was soaring over the jungle, riding on
the energy like a bird on
a strong, high wind. The
streets of the capitol entered her vision, the energy whipping her
through narrow ally ways and dirty streets. Through people and aliens
she had never seen before, stopping
only when she spotted a
robed figure.

A man.

But not a man. At least, not a
man of her people. Not a man like any of the aliens that traded with
them. He felt familiar, but she had never met him. He was speaking
with a merchant, his face covered by a brown hood. And then he saw
her. He turned and looked up sharply—right at her. Like
she really was standing in the ally with him.
His strange blue
eyes bore into
her, as if he knew her. And she knew him. Did she? She was
scared.

He reached for her and she pulled away, afraid of
what would happen. Her eyes snapped open and she found herself
staring into the worried golden eyes of Boro.

“Jaara! What
happened!? Are you alright?”

Boro's grip on her shoulders
was tight, and she shook her once. Jaara grabbed her hands, her chest
heaving as if she'd bodily run to the capitol.

“We...we
need to go to the capitol.”

“No.”

“Yes. Boro there's a man who
can help us. I think...I think he can help us.”

“How do you know?” Boro was
always mistrustful, but Jaara could suddenly sense everything about
her. More so than ever. Boro was afraid. And angry. And she was angry
at her as well. But why? Her friends gave her another shake,
distracting her. And it was as if a curtain had
shut her away from Boro's feelings. Jaara shrugged helplessly.

For a moment Jaara was sure her friend would storm
away in a huff, but she didn't. She closed her eyes and inhaled
deeply. Her grip on Jaara relaxed, her nostrils flaring for a moment.

“I see....” Suddenly Boro cried out, and jumped away as
if she'd been burned, her normally slitted pupils dilated until they
were nearly round. “What is
he!?”

“He is our hope. We must go to the capitol. We
will find him there.”

Boro did not disagree, but she
didn't look happy about it. Nivem would not go.

“But
you're the one who suggested it!” Cried Boro.

“Only
because I thought you would turn it down. I'm old, Jaara. My family
is gone and I have lived a good life. I will not make it to the
capitol alive if I go. When I die, I wish to be with my family.”
“At least come with us until the next village.”

“No.
I will care for this village until I am unable to. But Jaara, you
must go now. There is something greater out there for you. You have
much to do.”

Forcing
back tears Jaara knelt before the elder, taking his rough
greenish-blue hands into her own slender ones.

“How do
you know Nivem?”

“Can't you sense it child?” Nivem
squeezed her hands. “Can't you sense the energy changing around
you?”

“I...yes.
But I'm scared. I don't know why it wants me to do things.”

“It's alright to be afraid. But do not let it stop your
feet from moving forward. Jaara, we are not stones on the floor. We
must bend and move like the trees, and the energy that flows through
us is like the wind. Follow it and you will go where you are meant
to. Do you understand?”

“Yes. Well, a
little.”

“You will learn in time. You are young. Now go.
He is waiting for you.”

She decided no to ask him how he
knew. Perhaps he was able to feel energy like she and Boro. But it
was rare. She knew Boro felt it because as children they often played
games to see who could find animals in holes the fastest. They always
found the same animal at the same time, and both had admitted to
following the energy they felt inside themselves. But no others in
their village had ever felt such a thing. Or perhaps like Nivem, they
didn't talk about it. But why? She would never know now.

There was very little to pack for their journey. A sling
shot and daggers. What little food they could carry along with a
pouch of water. A blanket for each of them and clacker rocks to start
fires. Not much at all. Boro had traded out her hide skin dress for
the flowing green pants the hunters wore, and she had bound her chest
with strip of leather. It was a good idea. Jaara copied her friend,
and after a tearful goodbye to
Nivem they departed from their old life and stepped into the
uncertain future.

Jaara forced herself to not look back at
the village as she and Boro followed the narrow
footpath
that would lead them to the capitol three days away. Forced herself
to not cry. To not feel she had failed as a leader. She had never
really been given a chance to follow in her parents footsteps. To
make them proud. To save people. She had failed in so many ways. But
she would right this somehow. And that strange
man in
the capitol
was the key.

“Don't
cry Jaara.”

“I'm not.”

“You
are.”

Pressing a hand to her cheek she felt wetness. She
glanced over to Boro and found her cheeks were slick with tears. She
grabbed her friends hand, holding onto it tightly as
she looked down at their bare feet.

“We're
not stones on the ground.”

“What?”

“Nevermind.”

For
four
days they walked through the thick jungle, sleeping in trees at night
to avoid any large animals or the Felrin, the larger people that
lived in the jungles. Boro didn't speak much, and it left Jaara with
a lot of time to think. Sometimes, Jaara would catch Boro staring at
her almost angrily, and then the look would be gone. But why? She
wanted to ask, but her friend was stubborn and often didn't like
talking about her emotions. Especially if she was upset. Usually she
sulked for a day and by the time the sun set she came back as if
nothing was wrong. This Jaara was used to.

But this was
different. Sometimes, if Jaara concentrated, she could sense deeper
into her friend's mind. Usually it was worry if they would make it to
the capitol alive, or fear that they might run out of food. And
sometimes she felt the anger towards her. Anger for her not doing
much to find a cure. It went deeper than that, but she couldn't pry
any more without fear that Boro might realize what she was doing.
Jaara wished she could fix it, talk about it, but doing so would only
cause her friend to recede deeper into herself.

Towards
evening the scent of the capitol reached them. Both covered their
noses with cloths, and Jaara's eyes stung from the stench. The jungle
had given way to cleared fields, and the city loomed high above large
red walls made of clay. People jostled and clamored in and out of the
city, filling the sky with their shouts, laughter, and babbling. She
could smell every food, every uncleaned and cleaned body. Even the
walls seemed to have their own putrid scent. They were jostled forth
by a group of merchants all in a hurry to get inside. Panicked and
light headed as she pinched her nose closed with one hand, she
reached for Boro with her other. And came up empty.

Blinking
in surprised she glanced around. Boro was nowhere to be seen. She
called out her name to no avail, it was too loud to be heard. Trapped
in a tide of people Jaara closed her eyes. Felt the energy in her
swell. She needed air. Fresh air. The pressure around her suddenly
eased, and Jaara opened her eyes. Everyone around her hand stepped
back at least three feet, jostling each other, but not her. She could
breath. She tried to peer over the crowd, where I was growing into a
single file line as they drew nearer to the entrance of the wall. A
hand grabbed her shoulder. Not hard or threatening, but still. Jaara
stopped, and the crowed simply flowed past her. Except for the hooded
man holding onto her shoulder. He would not be moved.

Slowly,
she looked up into the face of a man she knew and didn't know. A
strange creature with sad
blue
eyes and pale skin. The energy flowed from him to her and she saw
glimpses of what he was. Strange harry creatures, aliens in armor of
hard white material. And she saw sadness. And hope. And a name. She
stared up into the eyes of the
familiar
man who was not familiar and her two hearts beat as one.

“You
are Luke.”

“And you,” Said this strange man with a
tired smile,
“were really hard to find. I've been looking for you for months.
I'm sure you have a lot of questions.”

For a moment Jaara
thought about running away. But only for a moment. Something about
this alien called Luke calmed her. Made her feel that all the
questions she'd ever had about anything would be answered. She needed
to be like a tree and bend in the face of a strong wind. She smiled
up at him as a word from his memories rolled across her mind. It
stuck out and felt important.

“Only one.”

“Yes?”

“What
is a Jedi?”

Luke smiled back.

“That, young one,
is a long story.”

Write a Review
Did you enjoy my story? Please let me know what you think by leaving a review! Thanks,
Katie Masters

Jasmine Chow:
As I read this story, I was reminded some what of Terry Pratchett, especially some descriptions of politics and economics. The sci-fic setting is quite intriguing. Writing style is quite lovely and grew on me slowly. I was also slightly reminded of Mark Twain, especially his book A Connecticut Ya...

Steve Lang:
I thought this story was imaginative, and well thought out. I also think it was an original piece, and not a rehash of previous scifi stories I've read in the past.Thank you for the effort put into this tale, and I look forward to reading more of your work!

PaulSenkel:
If you like Arthur C. Clarke's Odyssey, especially The Final Odyssey, then you will probably also enjoy this book. I definitely did.It does, however, address a more adolescent public than the above-mentioned book.I enjoyed the story and finished it in a few days. The overall situation on earth an...

Tiffany Thomson:
This story is not something I would normally pick up and read but I'm so glad I did, I wasn't able to put it down and my husband was yelling at me at 3am to put it down and go to bed (just waited for him to doze back off before picking it back up) I really hope Natalie brings out another book eit...

MavisMcQueen:
"To Live Again" is a well crafted, highly engaging, heart vibrating tale surrounding our favorite Elven King. The author will keep you engrossed until the very end and by that time you will feel so strongly for Clara and the other characters that you will never want it to end...like ever. Thrandu...

MegaRogueLegend666:
I love this story so much. It's impossible to describe my excitement with each new chapter in words. The author has such a good writing style, very good descriptions of the fighting and character descriptions/emotions. the plot is also amazing! This fanfic could be a side anime show or novel ......

Prasino45:
Hi! I happen to see your updated chapter on FF.NET!It happened to be about you coming onto Inkitt with this story! I've been a fan for a while! I'm a scqualphie writer myself. I ship them HARD! Love this story! I'm gonna do a reread as you said you changed some things! Glad we both made the switc...

Roger A. Fauble:
Excellent read, the only thing not to like is that I could only read it at home on my computer. I'm a character reader, I get into the characters, their story, who/what they are. In this story characters are introduced and developed allowing you to really get into them. Next the story is develop...